The Kardashian Klan are used to hairstyles that break the internet — Kim’s platinum blonde dye job threatened to overshadow the whole of Paris fashion week in March. So, when Kylie Jenner, Kim’s younger sister, posted an Instagram selfie on Sunday featuring a new hairstyle, a noisy reaction was to be expected.
But Jenner might not have bargained for accusations of cultural appropriation. These came from 17-year-old Hunger Games actor Amandla Stenberg, who posted a comment that read: “When u appropriate black features and culture but fail to use ur position of power to help black Americans by directing attention towards ur wigs instead of police brutality or racism #whitegirlsdoitbetter”. By Jenner’s next selfie, the braids were gone.
Inspired by celebrities including FKA twigs and Zoe Kravitz, braids like Jenner’s are gaining popularity across ethnicities. They have been a festival favourite this year, with the back-from-the-forehead cornrow particularly popular. I’m white, and I had my hair braided for the Guardian earlier this year by Keash, a braiding service set up by school friends Taiba Akhuetie, 25, and Jessy Linton, 24.
Akhuetie, whose mother is Nigerian, said she liked the idea of these styles going across races and ethnicities, despite some negative comments from black people. While she is frustrated that braiding might be seen as a trend, rather than something here to stay, she says: “If other people want to appropriate the style, I think that’s a good thing.” She compares white women braiding their hair to the now-commonplace fashion for black women to wear weaves to give the effect of straight, caucasian hair. “Now no one thinks about that,” she says. “Hair is political, definitely, but I hope we get to a point when there’s no segregation.”
Stenberg, who posted a video about cultural appropriation of hairstyles on YouTube earlier this year entitled Don’t Cash Crop On My Cornrows, might have her work cut out campaigning against other non-black women having their hair braided. Kenya Hunt of ElleUK.com, who regularly writes about black beauty, praises Stenberg as a “really bright young voice”, but says: “I think when it comes to conversations about race and cultural appropriation, we need to pick our battles. We’re seeing people burn down black churches in America right now, people killing young black women and men because of the colour of their skin. Kylie Jenner’s cornrows that she wore for hours? That doesn’t strike me as the battle we need to have.”
